The Bangkok Bar Industry, This Year And Next

Another year of chronicling Bangkok’s bar business has flown by. With 2025 just around the corner, it’s time to take a look back over the year that was, and have a think about what next year may bring.

2024 has been a great year for Bangkok’s bar industry. Many bars reported record visitor numbers, and record turnover. The few empty spaces in prime Sukhumvit bar areas have been gobbled up. Lots of new bars have opened and there are more to come. Business is booming and for bar owners, it’s a great time to be in the industry.

Perhaps the biggest talking point this year has been the changing face of customers. It feels like there are fewer Caucasians in the bars – although whether there are actually fewer or there are simply more others, I really don’t know. The average age of bar punters feels like it’s quite a bit younger than it used to be with noticeably fewer old-timers about. I’d guess the average age of bargoers today is several years lower than it was just a decade ago.

There are fewer expats in the gogo bars today, even in those bars which were once expat favourites. At  the same time, there are more females, more couples and even a few families. But perhaps the biggest change in the customer base has been the sharp increase in Indian visitors who, in some bars, at certain times of the year, may outnumber all other customers put together. More on that later.

The customer base is much more diverse these days and in 2025 I’d expect it to remain that way. White men need to learn to share their playground. More people are visiting Thailand for the first time and many are keen to see the famed bar industry with their own eyes. The bar industry today feels like it’s very much a part of the wider tourism industry, and not the outlier it once was.

In 2025, I’d expect even more mainstream tourists and more Indian men. And keep an eye out for more Eastern Europeans too. They’ve traditionally favoured the beaches and islands but as they discover Bangkok, it seems that they rather like it – and word is spreading amongst them.

A major talking point this year has been prices creeping up. I’ve not won any friends by saying that I believe customer drinks are reasonably priced. I stand by that, but I will also say that customer drinks aside, everything else strikes me as poor value for money. Lady drinks – especially the double lady drink nonsense – is an out and out rip-off, a cancer that is turning old hands away from the bars altogether. Barfine rates vary, but most bars charge in the 700 – 900 baht range. I don’t know that the price of barfines increased in many bars this year. As for the asking price for extras, let’s just say that anyone looking for action will find better value – and probably a better experience – elsewhere. That said, full marks to the girls for making every effort to maximise their income. Why charge 2,000 baht when many will happily pay 4,000?

Labour costs continue to rise, and rent is going up. The cost of running a business in downtown Bangkok is frightful. In response to recent rent increases, I’d expect bars to increase drinks prices in 2025. Another 20 baht / drink, menu-wide, perhaps? And if a few key bars increase prices, others will follow. Come this time next year, how many bars will have standard drinks priced at less than 200 baht? I maintain that for the entertainment provided, it’s still a very good deal.

With the asking fees for action often running more than the nightly rack rate in a decent hotel, will the current business model move away from one where girls are readily available to one where they are not? It’s happening to some extent already. Many girls just aren’t that keen to go and quote silly money accordingly. It begs the question: Would you go to the bars if there were hot, sexy, dancing ladies who weren’t available?

Working girls are much more sophisticated these days, not just in their personal presentation but in their business acumen. One big change is that many have little interest in being sponsored. Accepting a monthly stipend on the condition that they will be available whenever their suitor is in town is just not worth it to some. It’s a big change from the days when ladies juggled a couple of sponsors, each sending them 20K, 30K or 40K baht / month. Many bar ladies today place great emphasis on their freedom and independence. You might be able to buy an hour of her time, but you can’t buy a promise of her being on call.

So many ladies threw the winning lottery ticket away. They made really good money, and then pilfered it on partying with their friends, paying to screw bar boys, doing drugs and taking holidays at the beach. There are ladies working in the bars today who have already built a house in the provinces, have a new car and a bank account with high 7, or 8 figures in Thai baht. They continue to work. Gone are the days when a lady was focused on sending her family several thousand baht / month. Many are now laser-focused on maximising their earnings and setting themselves up. As one lady said to me when I was last in town, a few million baht in the bank isn’t enough, and won’t last. Clever girl.

How often do you hear of bargirls marrying their customers these days? It used to happen all the time. These days? Not so much. Once they’re established in the industry, few have any interest in settling down with a customer unless he is particularly – or is that spectacularly – wealthy. The opportunity cost is too great when there is money to be made which would allow them to live life their way, while retaining their freedom and independence.

There is no official data, but my best guess is that the average age of ladies in the bars is older than it was, which is very much a long-term trend.

There’s a slow but growing movement towards bars offering a superior experience. It does, of course, come with a price. More bars have VIP areas. This year we have seen the emergence of a number of lounge-style bars. And some venues now call themselves gogo “clubs”. Some bars are aiming for the top end of the gogo bar market, trying to catch the big spenders in the industry as they differentiate themselves from the more traditional gogo bars. Pay more and you get a better experience. Whether “more” is worth it to the average punter is moot – but there are plenty willing to pay.

Bars are struggling with Indian visitors and don’t know what to do about them. A small number of bars don’t allow entry to Indians at all, while others have specific rules such as insisting Indian customers buy a drink before entering. Indian visitor numbers are only going to increase and bars need to figure out what to do with them.

As I said at the start, it’s been a great year for the bars with visitor numbers continuing to rise. Low season has gone the way of the pa-yen (cold towel) and 1,000 baht all-nighter. More visitors means busier bars and this week some bars in Nana Plaza had the “bar full” sign up. As bars get busier, could entry fees be introduced? It seems unlikely at this point in time but if things continue on this trajectory, in a few years’ time who knows?

Bar customers are going through what I think of as a kind of changing of the guard. When I reflect on my time in Bangkok and the friends I made, there was a similar changing of the guard, so to speak, in the late ’90s. When I arrived in early 1998, the Tom Yung Kung Crisis AKA the Asian Economic Crisis was raging. Businesses were closing – including many international companies – and expats were leaving en masse. At the same time, tourism in Thailand was really taking off and visitor numbers were rising fast. Early adopters of this thing called the Internet stumbled on websites with info about the adult fun that could be had in Thailand. They visited Thailand, they fell in love and they would return regularly. A new generation of customers was born. Let’s call them the “Internet Generation”.

This new generation was, for the most part, clueless about Thailand. Most knew little about Thailand beyond pad Thai and green curry. Made up mainly of middle-aged men from developed countries, they would visit Thailand multiple times per year. After a few trips, many moved to the country and looked for work. Some called time on their career in Farangland and retired in Thailand. Most had little or no experience of prostitution before discovering Thailand, but they would fall for the bar industry hard. Addicted? Obsessed? Call it what you will, they couldn’t get enough of it. As the years passed by, some settled down with a bar lady. Some got burned by a bar lady. For the Internet Generation, long-time was the norm, and a lady drink meant one drink – and she probably wouldn’t ask for another.

There’s a new generation in the bars today. What can we call them? How about the “Post-Covid Generation”? There are holdouts in the bars from the Internet Generation – and even the one before it, the “Vietnam Generation” – but their numbers are dwindling as they become disenchanted with the way the industry has changed.

The bar industry has been moving in a new direction post-Covid. Flasher bars. A wider variety of drinks. More glamorous looking ladies. Venues catering to big-spenders. It’s much more focused on fun inside the bar, and not so much about taking a lady away. While it is the bar owners and the girls who set the rules, it is the customers who decide what they will accept and what flies. It feels to me like the new generation has little in the way of expectations. They seem to enjoy what’s on offer today. All power to them, and long may they enjoy it, even if I doubt many of them will become addicted to the bar industry or obsessed by it like the generations before them. You can tell the current generation about how things used to be, but they don’t appear to care. The new generation doesn’t care about the past. They seem happy enough with the way things are today. And that’s why the bars will continue on their current trajectory.

Mystery Photo

Where is it?

Last week’s photo was taken from the Phrom Phong BTS station looking down from the north side of the platform on to the area just east of the EmQuartier and looking at the backs of the shophouses on Sukhumvit Soi 37. This week’s photo features a spot that was perhaps better known to foreigners a few decades ago than it is today. The one clue I’ll give you is that it’s not on Sukhumvit.

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Stick’s Inbox – The Best Emails From The Past Week

What we love about Sukhumvit!

Lower Sukhumvit, and especially the odd-numbered side, is still one big freak show at night. There are many ladyboys, some of them looking downright freaky. Lots of African hookers and drug dealers. Hookers from all corners of Asia. Vendors openly selling sex toys and Viagra etc. There are touts trying to get you inside massage places, sex shows, smelly garbage etc. It’s not good image-wise for one of Bangkok’s main streets. <This is the colour and these are the characters that we love about Sukhumvit! – Stick>

Happy to no longer be a two-week millionaire.

Let me give you my two cents of what I see in the trade from someone who has been living in Bangkok for the past 7 years. Absolutely it’s high season and we are getting the usual two-week millionaires who have been slaving away to come spend their annual savings and have a good time. Enjoy! I do sense, however, that something is changing. Why are there so many ladies on the street, not just Soi 4 but also Soi 11? Why are places like Thermae packed to the hilt? I think guys have had it. It’s still fun  to start with expensive drinks, but then go elsewhere. Girls are getting ripped off by mamasans interjecting themselves into transactions, despite trafficking concerns. In the end, we pay for their greed. Times are tough and I suppose they have to make it up somewhere. Savvy beauties can make money elsewhere and guys are looking for alternatives. Still good value? Only for the two-week millionaires. Glad I am no longer one of them.

When you need change to tip.

More Readers’ Emails

Nana Plaza report.

I was in Bangkok last week. I would say it’s as busy as I can ever remember. Ignoring the “top” bars, the biggest winner seems to be Geisha which was close to capacity on numerous nights. Not just their bathtub, but all the seating. I think they have some of the best looking girls in the plaza.

Barfine happy hour.

You asked whether there are happy hour prices on barfines. Well, actually there kind of are. I have noticed that a lot of bars handle barfines differently for long or short time these days. For long time, they will ask for a double barfine! Around midnight or 1 AM, many bars will then give you the “happy hour” price of just 1 barfine.

Pricey Russian women.

Down in Pattaya, the Club Electric Blue brand name is making a comeback. Big Andy’s baby will return to the fold in a new location on Soi Diamond, and is due to open early in the new year.

The expanded Shark on Walking Street will celebrate its first Christmas over two nights with more than 100 Sexy Santas dancing on three stages. Alternatively, you can curl up with your favorite elf in one of three VIP areas. Shark is open until 4:00 AM.

Soi Cowboy has bars running the length of the soi, on both sides. Soi Cowboy is 150 metres long and the average shophouse is about, what, 4 metres or so in width? And bars are typically 1, 2 or 3 shophouses wide. That’s a lot of bars on the soi. But how many bars on Soi Cowboy are actually worth stopping by? Soi Cowboy has 3 dedicated ladyboy bars: Cockatoo, Shadow and Majestic – and I guess 99% of us have zero interest in these bars. The notorious Arab has half a dozen bars which most locals and long-time visitors avoid. There are a few weed shops which may or may not be your thing. There’s an eatery or two, and a massage parlour due to open soon. There are a few smaller bars which may or may not appeal. What does that leave? Not that many bars, actually. But any of Baccara, Suzie Wong, Crazy House, Rainbow, Shark, Dollhouse, Cowboy 2 or Tilac are worth stopping by. Some swear by Long Gun too, but I’m not convinced about it these days.

Don’t care for tatted up girls with braces, piercings, ridiculous eye-lashes and dyed hair? Prefer the natural look? What you’re looking for can be found. Where? On the street! If, like me, the natural look is more to your preference, you might prefer one of the many Vietnamese girls who can be found hanging around Soi Nana or Soi 11. They typically don’t come with the after-market accessories many Thai working girls favour. And unlike so many of their Thai counterparts, most of them are child-less.

The Landmark Hotel has been a favourite for naughty boys who are looking for a more comfortable place to stay than old favourites like the Nana Hotel or the Ambassador. The Atrium restaurant on the Landmark’s ground floor has re-opened after a long closure during which it was renovated. The Landmark’s popular breakfast buffet is being served there again. It was being served in The Rib Room on the 31st floor – and what a spot that was for breakfast! The terrace out the front of the hotel still looks like a construction site. I am told that not only have the premises been spruced up, the buffet breakfast has been improved too. When I was last in town, we dropped by one morning for breakfast and it was fantastic. Regulars tell me that in recent years some items had disappeared from the buffet breakfast – like the smoked salmon – but it’s back now, along with other items. Feedback is that it has never been so good. The buffet is quite spread out – so you need to wander around to see it all. Amazingly, reception has had complaints that some diners had to walk too far to see everything on offer! The price for hotel guests, who get a discounted rate, is 680 baht. If you want to treat yourself to a really high-quality buffet breakfast, give The Landmark a go.